Nouakchott, Mauritania
Soldiers loyal to Mauritanian President Maaouiya Sid Ahmed Ould Taya beat back a coup attempt this week. Rebel forces took over the presidential palace and killed the army chief of staff before government troops routed them. “The patriotic forces beat this plot,” said Ould Taya, who has ruled autocratically since leading a bloodless coup in 1984. Mauritanian newspapers speculated that the rebel attack was provoked by a recent government crackdown on Islamic radicals. A former French colony, Mauritania was one of Iraq’s main allies in Africa until the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1991, when it supported the U.S.-led coalition. The desert country has a mostly Muslim population and belongs to the Arab League.
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